The Fourth Charmed One
by piper-tolkien
Summary: After sending Angel to Hell, Buffy makes the decision to go back and talk to her mother, Joyce Summers. During the conversation Joyce reveals that Buffy was adopted in San Francisco.
1. Chapter 1: Angry Outbursts

The Fourth Charmed One

Summary: In answer to the challenge #6581. After sending Angel to Hell, Buffy makes the decision to go back and talk to her mother, Joyce Summers. During the conversation Joyce reveals that Buffy was adopted in San Francisco. With only her birth mothers name, Patty Halliwell, to go on; Buffy heads out to San Francisco with Joyce's permission and blessing to find her real family.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT under ANY circumstances make any profit off of this story. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to the magnificent Joss Whedon and Charmed belongs to the equally magnificent Constance M. Burge.

A/N: Set in season 3 for Charmed and after season 2 and during season 3 for Buffy.

Chapter 1: Angry Outburst

_In every generation there is a Chosen One_

_A Slayer destined to protect the human race_

_She alone must fight the Demons of Hell_

_She alone must risk her life to stop the spread of Evil_

_She is the Vampire Slayer._

Buffy Summers lives with her mother Joyce Summers. Their house located in Sunnydale, California, which just happens to be located on top of a Hellmouth. Buffy and her Watcher, Rupert Giles, are guardians of the Hellmouth; protectors of the innocent as Xander and Willow, Buffy's friends, might say. Buffy Summers is what the Watchers Council calls a "Vampire Slayer".

"Mom, I'm home." Buffy said as she walked into her house through the back door and entered the kitchen. The fight from earlier had taken a lot out of Buffy, both mentally and physically. Heaving a big sigh that almost came out as a sob; she remembered the last thing her mother said to her, "_Buffy! You walk out that door; don't even think of coming back._" Letting a few tears fall down her face then wiped them away angrily. _I need to get out of here, NOW! _she thought as she ran upstairs and started to pack her duffle bag, not even stopping to look up as her mother walked into her room.

"Do you have anything to say to me Buffy or are you just going to leave?" Joyce asked with concern in her voice. She knew that she had made a terrible mistake and regretted the things she said to Buffy before she left to god knows where. Joyce also knew that the day would come when she would have to tell Buffy that she was adopted, and after Buffy left earlier that night she knew that the day had come. No more lies, no more secrets, just the god's honest truth.

Without looking up at her mother she asked, "What is there to say?" while gathering her Slayer supplies from the trunk of her closet and dumping it all at the bottom of her duffle bag.

"How about you start off by telling me the truth Buffy? That would be a good place to start."

"Do you not see what I am putting into my duffle bag? Come on mom, I know we are both blonds but there is no need to act stupid…it doesn't suit you. Besides I told you before I left the house, I am a vampire slayer mother. I mean honestly, when you were washing the blood, dust and grime off of my clothes, what did you think I was doing?"

"You honestly want my opinion? I thought you were in a gang again just like you were back in L.A. just like you burned down you old high school gym."

Buffy's eyes went hard, looking at her mother dead in the eye, her eyes cold and heartless. "If you honestly cannot conceive the fact that your daughter is a vampire slayer instead of gang member, then honestly you are not the mother I grew up with."

There was surprise and anger in Joyce's eyes, and anger turned to cold and heartless. "Well since we are laying out all our cards here, I can tell you one thing is for sure Buffy, you are not my child and will never be my child." Joyce threw down an old looking paper onto Buffy's duffle bag, then turned and headed for the door. "I want you out of this house before dawn." And just like that Joyce was gone.


	2. Chapter 2: A New Name In San Francisco

A/N: I cannot believe my muse was so hateful to both parties in chapter one. Don't worry though because I have plans for Joyce in the future. Also I am sorry that the last chapter was so short. I'll make sure to make this one longer. As always, enjoy and please review!

Chapter 2: A New Name In San Francisco

Buffy didn't need to look at the paper that Joyce threw at her to know it was a birth certificate. She gently picked it up with one thing in mind which was to find out where she was born. On the top of the paper it read, San Francisco, California. Gently folding her birth certificate up, Buffy pocketed it, thinking that she would be able to look at it on her way to San Francisco.

Pushing all the feelings of anger, betrayal and grief to the side for the time being, Buffy looked out the window noticing that she only had thirty minutes before dawn. Gathering toiletries from her bathroom, the rest of her clothes from her closet, her jewelry that Buffy knew she was going to have to sell at some point, and her allowance money that she had saved up for the last couple of months. Once that was done she walked down the stairs and out the front door.

From there her mind went into auto pilot, and her emotions went numb. Instead of time slowing down for Buffy, time seemed to speed up. The next thing that she was aware of was a tall red headed woman on the bus that was gently shaking her. Buffy mentally shook herself and tried to understand the woman that was talking to her. "I'm sorry; can you say that again, please?"

The woman smiled a sad but gentle smile, "You wanted to go to San Francisco, right?"

Buffy merely nodded.

"We're here honey, at San Francisco now, and it's time to get off the bus." The woman's name tag identified her as Brenda; who was still smiling a gentle smile.

Buffy nodded in her thanks and walked off the bus, which was now empty of all its passengers. Gathering her duffle bags, she walked into the San Francisco bus station. Sadly the first thing that came to mind now that she was on her own was the song from _Three Days Grace_ called On My Own. Shaking her head, trying to clear her thoughts and emotions that she had yet to acknowledge that were threatening to explode from her.

Pulling out her birth certificate once Buffy was seated on an empty bench she was able to read it for the first time. The first thing she noticed was that her birth name was Payton Halliwell._ Well anything is better than Buffy, I guess_ she thought. Smiling for the first time in over a year, Buffy noticed that her birth mothers name also began with the letter 'P'; Patricia Halliwell to be exact. Frowning, she also noticed the father's name was put in as unknown._ I'm guessing that my real father left my mother when she found out that she was pregnant. Just great! Another absent father! _Buffy thought with a scowl.

Looking at her birth date, January 19th 1979, she realized that she is in fact twenty years old, as to why Joyce decided that waiting two more years before she let Buffy into elementary school, Buffy couldn't even begin to imagine. Smiling at her luck when she flipped the certificate over it had her mother's name, address on it and a note on the back.

_Patricia Halliwell _

_1329 Prescott St_

"_May the Powers that Be set you free!_

_Blessed Be my darling."_

With tears sliding down her face Buffy whispered, "I will find you mom, where ever you may be." Wiping her tears away, she decided the best place to start looking for her family was by looking up her last name and address that she had found, then look it up in the phone book.

Locating the phone book wasn't that hard if you looked in the right places, the gist of it was that her mother wasn't in the phone book, but a Prudence, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell were. _They __**have got **__to be sisters! _She thought with a giggle. _Oh God! What if __**they**__ are __**my **__sisters?_ Buffy thought with a gasp. She desperately wanted to find out but she wasn't a computer whiz like Willow. Thinking of Willow made her heart clench with homesickness. But wasn't this what Buffy always wanted, a happy family and a normal life without darkness hovering over her head all the time?

_But I'm The Slayer! The only Slayer that is capable enough to watch over the Hellmouth. _Wasn't that what Giles tried to drill into her head ever since he became her Watcher? _It's my duty to protect the people in Sunnydale._

Gripping her head tightly, she walked slowly over to one of the benches that was outside of the bus station and sat down. She wanted to bang her head against the wall until she couldn't think anymore. She was tired of the bullshit drama that went on in Sunnydale High School, and where Joyce was concerned her body wanted to go into an emotional shut down every time she thought about her. Her mind wanted to say "Fuck you! No one needs a parent that doesn't care about their children, adopted or not!" but on the other hand her heart ached with anger and grief because of the fight with Joyce.

Family had never come close to her number one priority. At first when she was living in L.A it was boyfriend first, friends second and homework last; never family though never even crossed her radar. Oh Buffy knew that her parents; or adoptive parents to be exact; were always fighting, that's why she was never home. Then when her first Watcher, Merrick, who explained to her about being the Chosen One and her destiny, she trained hard and learned fast as she soon realized that the Vampires ALWAYS have the upper hand. Buffy soon became a social outcast to her friends, peers and even her boyfriend at the time, even during her toughest moments Joyce and Hank were never on her radar.

Now though, she wanted a family, and not just any family, her family. With that thought in mind Buffy asked the manager at the Greyhound Bus Station where the closest Library was. As it turns out, the closest library was two blocks away. _As soon as I get to the library, I'm going to do research on the current owners of my mother's home._

A/N: COMING UP NEXT- Buffy dives in for a little research, but can she get to the library without incident?

Well what do you think of this chapter? I hope it was long enough for you.


	3. Chapter 3: Phoebe's Premonition

A/N: Thank you so much for all of your wonderful reviews. It really kept my spirits up, and as always enjoy and please review!

Chapter 3: Phoebe's Premonition

****24 HOURS AGO****

Piper and Phoebe Halliwell were still in shock as they stood by the Book of Shadows. Andrew Trudeau had just showed up on their doorstep not thirty minutes ago. After interrogating Andrew the sisters, Prue, Piper and Phoebe, had agreed that he was not a demon considering that he had all of his memories but that certainly didn't mean that a demon was not involved. So while Prue was still asking Andrew questions, and Leo with the Elders to try to get some answers from their end, Piper and Phoebe agreed to look in the Book of Shadows just as a precaution.

"I still can't believe that believe that Andy is alive." Piper said while looking over Phoebe's shoulder, which was flipping through The Book. "Why would a demon want to bring Andy back and after all this time too?"

"I don't know Piper, who or what ever did bring Andy back, did so had to have a reason, but I am not finding anything in the Book of Shadows that will help point the way." Slamming The Book closed; Phoebe sighed and put her face in her hands. "I'm never going to find what we are looking for without a little help here!" Phoebe said looking up at the ceiling. Then the Book of Shadows opened and the pages started flipping until it got to a certain page in The Book.

"What the…How in the world would Vampires be involved?" Piper asked confused.

"I don't know but…" As soon as Phoebe touched the page, a shock went through her as a premonition washed over her.

****PHOEBE'S PREMONITION****

Phoebe was suddenly standing in what looked to be a school library. Looking around she spotted three teenagers, two of them; a tall gangly boy with brunet hair, and a girl with long red hair sitting in a chair; looked to be in shock. While the other; a blond headed girl that was just about as tall as she was, who seemed oddly familiar; was standing with her arms crossed. There was also what looked to be the librarian, who was an older gentleman with brunet hair with little hints of gray in it who was whipping his glasses at the time.

"The word "Hellmouth" is derived from the original, Spanish name for Boca del Infierno, translated as "Mouth of Hell." The older gentleman said with a slight English accent.

FLASH

Once again Phoebe was in the same library with just the man with the English accent and the short blond headed girl.

"You are the Slayer, one girl in the entire world, the Chosen One, to fight the forces of darkness."

FLASH

Now Phoebe was at the Greyhound Bus Station in San Francisco, looking down she saw the young blond girl holding an old birth certificate.

_Payton Halliwell_

_DOB: January 19__1979_

_Mother: Patricia Halliwell_

_Father: Unknown_

The young blond turned the birth certificate over and it read;

_Patricia Halliwell_

_1329 Prescott_

"_Let the Powers That Be set you free!_

_Blessed be my darling."_

****END OF PREMONITION****

Phoebe shook her head to clear it.

"Phoebe what did you see?" Piper asked.

Turning to look at Piper with wide eyes, she whispered, "I think I just saw our sister."


	4. Chapter 4: Buffy's Research

Chapter 4: Buffy's Research

For the next few hours Buffy spent her time in the library looking up her mother, Patricia Halliwell. As it turns out her mother died in a drowning accident; or at least that what the reporters were saying, Buffy knew somehow that her mother's death was no accident; on February 28th 1980, in the lake of San Francisco, at a camp called Camp Skylark. Buffy also found out that Prudence, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell were in fact her sisters. She also found that a lot of crimes that were committed within the last two years that her sisters were somehow involved. It looked like every single account that they were at involved some type of supernatural. Looking through the public records she found that she was indeed adopted by Joyce and Hank Summers, but other than that she couldn't find a copy of her birth certificate on file. That gave Buffy next to nothing to go on except the fact that she was holding her original birth certificate. But she knew in her heart that this family might be the answer that she was looking for.

Once she got the directions off of the computer on how to get to her family home, the library was starting to close. She walked down the streets of downtown San Francisco trying to find a place that will buy some of her jewelry. When she finally found one she was able to gather up three hundred dollars.

Getting on a bus that would take her only two blocks from her destination; it was a forty-five minute drive and the sun was going down. Hopefully she wouldn't run into any vampires on the way.


	5. Chapter 5: The Fourth Sister

Chapter 5: The Fourth Sister

"What do you mean? Is Prue in danger?" Piper rounded on Phoebe.

"No, another sister, one that neither Mom nor Grams told us about, our sister." Phoebe answered looking put out. The only way she was going to get answers was by summoning their mom or Grams, maybe even both. Getting out the items that she needed, Phoebe quickly put the white candles on the floor where they needed to be.

"What's going on?" Prue asked coming into the attic with Andy in tow.

"Phoebe had a premonition about having another sister." Piper stated.

"What does she mean by that Phoebe?" Prue asked.

Just then Leo orbed back in with a smile on his face. He coughed to get their attention. When they turned around Prue was quick to change the subject, asking Leo if he found out any information on Andy.

"Well, the Elders agreed that Andy wasn't meant to die almost two years ago to the day. He is what the Powers That Be call 'a warrior of light or a champion'. He is also a Whitelighter, and considering the drop in whitelighters that has happened in the last year or so they, being the Powers That Be and the Elders decided to bring him back to life." Leo stated to the sisters. "Speaking of, where is Andy?"

Andy moved away from where he was, which was by the Book of Shadows and right behind Leo. "Why now? Why me? After all this time they decide that now was a good time to bring me back from the dead!" He asked, all of his questions directed at Leo.

"You are a warrior, a champion for the light, and a whitelighter too…" Leo began but was cut off by another voice, one that Phoebe immediately recognized.

"What he is really trying to say man, is that you are important enough to bring back to life. Besides the Powers That Be like to screw with our lives whether we want them to or not."

Prue, Piper, Phoebe, Leo and Andy turned to see a petite blonde woman standing at the door way to the attic, looking dead on her feet.

Before Prue or Piper could react Phoebe shouted, "Don't hurt her! She is our sister, the girl I saw in my vision!"

Immediately after hearing that Buffy was on her guard with her fist clenched at her side. Aware of her surroundings she saw the three sisters, her sisters, and two men. Rushing to explain she pulled out her birth certificate and held it out for the oldest sister, Prue, and offered her to take it. "My name is Buffy Summers, although my biological name is Payton Halliwell. I was adopted by a couple by the names of, Joyce and Hank Summers. I got in a fight with my adoptive mom last night and she literally threw my birth certificate in my face before she kicked me out of the house…" Buffy said trailing off at the end.

"Well, Buffy, may I call you Buffy…" Piper asked, getting a nod from Buffy, Piper continued, "Buffy, why did Joyce kick you out of the house?" At that question Buffy tensed up.

"I think the more important question is how did you get into our house? Also how did you know where we live?" Asked Prue, who was looking more suspicious by the second.

Buffy shrugged before answering, "The door was unlocked and my birth mother left a message on the back of my birth certificate along with her name, Patricia Halliwell, along with an address on it. I went to the San Francisco library and looked her up. You are her children which means biologically you are my sisters."

"Hold on, time out here! My mother only had one husband and thats our father Victor here it says that your father is unknown." Piper said, not wanting to except the fact that she had another sister. One that her mother thought to give up for adoption.

"Well there is only one was to find out and that is to summon mom." Phoebe stated.


	6. Chapter 6: Buffy a Slayer and a

Chapter 6: Buffy's a Slayer and a Charmed One?

"What do you mean summon?" Buffy asked, walking into the attic and up next to her sisters who were standing by a book, which stood on a podium. It was an old book that looked to be a couple hundred years old but still in good condition. Buffy didn't dare touch the book considering how her sisters were hovered around it.

Suddenly Phoebe started to chant.

"Hear these words

Hear my cry

Spirit from the other side

Come to me

I summon thee

Cross now

The great divide"

Then there were glowing white orbs that swirled around inside the white candles for a few moments then when they disappeared, Buffy's breath caught, because there inside the circle was her mother, her birth mother.

She's beautiful, Buffy thought, even when she is a ghost.

"Girls, what a surprise to see you! Why did you summon me, is there something wrong?" Patty asked, looking slightly worried now.

Two yes' and one no came from her daughters. Patty sighed and put her hands on her hips, "Well which is it yes, or no?"

"Mom there is nothing wrong at the moment…" Phoebe started, but was interrupted by Buffy. "Are you kidding me?" Buffy rounded on her sisters with a death glare.

That's when Patty noticed her fourth daughter. "Payton?" Patty whispered. She looked like she wanted to run towards her daughter but quickly decided against it thinking it might not be welcome.

Buffy didn't hear her mother whisper her birth name and continued on with her rant. "I mean come on! It's against the Wiccan rule to summon the dead. And if you go against it you pay a hefty price. Are you all stupid or just plum crazy?"

"Payton!" Patty chastised Buffy, her voice louder than before. But Buffy ignored her mother. "I mean it, seriously, do you want to die, because it sure does look like it to me!" Buffy said breathing heavily through her nose, her jaw clenched as well as her fists clenched at her sides. She didn't want her real family, the ones she just found, to die because of her coming here. Everyone was silent, shocked at what Buffy said, until Buffy sighed looking about to burst into tears. Shaking her head, "I shouldn't have come here…" Buffy said loud enough that only her sisters caught it, then she turned and started to run down the stairs to make her way out of the house.

"Buffy! Please, wait and let us explain!" Phoebe shouted as she ran after her sister. Phoebe caught Buffy 's arm just before Buffy could make it out the door. "Please will you wait until we explain before you just run out the door?" She asked with pleading eyes.

"What is there to explain?" Buffy asked, shaking off Phoebe's grip.

"Well for starters let me explain the rules we follow. First the Wiccan rule that we go by is 'harm none, do what ye will'. The second is that we cannot use our magic for personal gain. Summoning spirits doesn't have rules to it. You can even summon demons as far as i know from what the Book of Shadows says in it."

"So you really are witches?" Buffy asked with a sigh, and looked up to see her other sisters standing in the hallway behind Phoebe.

"Yes, and since you really are our sister, then that makes you one too." Prue said with small smile.

"And you will have a power too, just like us." Piper said coming up to Buffy's side.

"Really? What power would I have? What are your powers?" Buffy asked, looking between being shocked and curious.

At that the three smiled at Buffy and Prue gathered them into a group hug, whispering, "Welcome to the family, Buffy!"

It was then, when the four sisters were reunited in the family home the the Power of Three became the Power of Four.

Buffy finally broke down and started to cry, letting all of the emotions that had been threatening to break out of her, finally wash over her.

After a while with the four just hugging and the oldest three whispering comforting words to Buffy, that she finally calmed down.

"Come on," Phoebe said, the first one to pull away, "Do you think you're up for a little family reunion?"

As Piper and Prue pulled away they saw their baby half-sister wipe away her tears and nod.

They walked back upstairs together to find the mother now corporeal. Patty walked up to her youngest daughter and whispered, "Can I have a hug?"

Buffy threw her arms around her mother and hugged her gently. She may already be dead but it was the thought that counts. I need to tell them my story now, Buffy thought. She pulled gently away from her mother and sat down on the sofa. "I have something I need to you guys." Looking from her sisters to her mother she sighed and said, "I am a Vampire Slayer."


	7. Chapter 7: The Charmed Slayer

Chapter 7: A Charmed Slayer

**********LAST TIME ON THE FOURTH CHARMED ONE***********

"I have to tell you something guys." Looking from her sisters to her mother she sighed and said, "I am a Vampire Slayer."

"I always thought that to be a myth." Leo said coming around to look at Buffy with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well it's not. I have the strength of ten men, and visions, or what the Watcher's Council calls 'Slayer dreams.'" Buffy countered with a huff, now crossing her arms around her chest.

"Wait a second, what does a Vampire Slayer actually do?" Patty asked, looking at Buffy, wanting the answer to come from her and not Leo.

"The prophecy goes like this, 'Into every generation there is a Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One. She alone will wield the power to stand against the Vampires, the Demons, and the forces of darkness. She alone must stop the spread of their evil, and protect the innocents. She is the Vampire Slayer.' That's what I was told on the footsteps of Hemery High School, in Los Angeles, when I was fifteen years old, by my first Watcher. His name was Merrick, I'm not sure if that was his first name or last name though. Anyways that night I killed my first Vampire."

"Hold on! Let me get this straight here for a second!" Her mother interrupted, looking livid. "You were called to become a Vampire Slayer at the age of fifteen?" She screeched.

Buffy grimaced and nodded in answer.

"My God," Patty's looked like they could kill, as she continued on raving. "Who makes up these God forsaken rules, I mean come on, why on earth send a child to do their dirty work?"

That's when Buffy had enough. Standing up she roughly grabbed her mother to look at her in the eye. "Mother, you will calm yourself this instant! Merrick saved my life more times than you could imagine. I just wish I could say that same thing about me though." Buffy whispered her last sentence, dropping her grip from her mom as a few tears ran down her face.

"What do you mean Buffy?" Prue asked with a frown on her face.

Buffy sighed and sat back down on the couch. "Merrick was training me to kill a Vampire King by the name of Lothos. After a while of training, hunting and killing Vampires I became a social outcast to everyone in the school. It remained that way until Merrick's death." Her voice broke at that but quickly regained her composure and continued, "Merrick sacrificed himself to protect me!" Putting her face in her hands she began to sob.

"Oh god, Buffy I am so sorry." Her mother and Prue were quickly at her side to comfort her. "I am so sorry that you had to go through that."

Buffy laughed without humor. "The worst part is that I had to kill my lover last night."

Her mother and sisters looked confused at her comment. "Yes my lover was Angel, the only Vampire with a soul. He was cursed by gypsies when he killed one of their own. At least he used to have a soul. The story went that if he had one moment of true happiness he would lose his soul. Guess what his moment of true happiness was?"

"You had sex with him?" Piper screeched.

"Yes but I didn't know any of this information until afterwards!" I shouted, feeling the need to defend my actions. "In the end I sent him to a hell dimension with his soul intact."

"That must have been hard." Phoebe said with a frown.

"Well, I guess that means you really are a Halliwell." Piper said with a sad smile.

"What do you mean?"

Prue smiled and patted Buffy's knee. "You aren't a Halliwell if you haven't dated a few demons."

At that they all laughed.

Once Buffy stopped laughing she remembered why she stayed. "So what type of power do you think I will have mom?"

"Well considering your father was a Whitelighter I am sure you will have some of his powers and some that are uniquely yours."

"WHAT?" Prue, Piper and Phoebe screamed in shock.

"Excuse me but did you say whitelighter? As in your whitelighter, Sam?" Prue asked, looking livid.

Patty nodded not looking the least bit guilty. "Yes, your father and I were already seperated at the time and I feel in love with Sam. Look you can be angry with me all you want for not telling you…" Patty was interrupted by Buffy.

"When were you going to tell me that I was your daughter?" Looking at her mother feeling hurt.

"Oh Buffy, I couldn't tell you. It would have put you in danger…"

"You mean more danger than I was already in?"

"I didn't know you were in any danger! You were supposed to go to a good family."

"Well, that didnt protect me from becoming a Slayer now did it? I am going to ask again, why didn't you tell me?"

Patty sighed looking defeated. "I swore I wouldn't tell you because my being with Sam was not only against the rules it just wasn't done. They would have taken you away or worse and i couldn't have that so i gave you up." She answered with tears streaming down her face. Wiping away a few stray tears she got up from the couch and walked back to the circle of candles. "Oh, before I go, you'll need to find the spell that will activate the power of four in the Book of Shadows. Goodbye my darlings and blessed be!" And just like that she faded into nothing.

"Well I am going to take her advice and invoke the Power of Four before the next demon attacks." Prue said getting up and going to the now closed Book of Shadows.

Phoebe smiled and took Buffy's hand and pulled her up. "Come on Buffy, you need to say the spell with us for it to work."

When they were all by the Book, Prue openes the book and turned to the first page. "Read out loud with me okay?" Prue asked and Buffy nodded.

"Hear now the words of the witches

The secrets we hid in the night

The oldest of gods are invoked here

The great work of magic is sought

In this night

And in this hour

We call upon the Anchient Powers

Bring us the powers to we sisters four

We want the power

Embrace the power

Unite the power!"


	8. Chapter 8: Sunnydale

Chapter 8: Sunnydale

********MEANWHILE IN SUNNYDALE********

Xander and Willow hadn't seen nor heared from Buffy in almost twenty-four hours. After checking to see if she was still alive only to find all of the vampires gone and the statue hadn't swollowed Sunnydale that meant that Buffy must have went to Giles' house. So thats where they were at the moment.

Knock, knock.

Giles answered the door looking distracted. "Uhm I am kind of busy at the moment, what did you need?" He asked running his free hand through his hair.

"We were wondering if you had heard from Buffy yet?" Willow asked.

Giles shook his head. "No not yet, have you tried going to see if she went home?"

"Not yet," Xander answered. "We should try that Wills."

"You two go on a head and we will meet back up in the library, yes?"

They nodded. "Okay Giles, see you later."

Giles just nodded and shut the door quickly.

"Do you think he is still mourning over Ms. Calender?" Willow asked.

"Probably, so we shouldn't bother him until we have more to go on about Buffy." Xander answered and started back towards Buffy's house.

Inside Rupert Giles' home, in the living room, there tied to dining table chair was none other than Joyce Summers. Taking the knotted sock out of her mouth he proceeded to ask questions about Buffy.

"Where is Buffy?" He demanded.

"I don't know nor do I care." Joyce snarled.

"You do know where she is wether you care or not!"

SLAP

There was blood coming out of the corner of Joyce's mouth now. Spitting it into Giles' face smiling a evil smile. Wiping the blood and saliva off of his face his anger grew while his patience grew thin.

"You are her mother for God's sake! Tell me where she is dammit!"

"I am NOT her mother! She's no DAUGHTER of mine!"

"What do you mean?" He asked in a low, cold voice. Now he was curious but his face showed no signs of it.

"I mean that I adopted her. I was left barren because of an old ex-boyfriend of mine before I got married to that bastard, Hank." She spat out feeling bitter about the whole situation.

"Where did you adopt her from?"

"We found her at a church in the Bay Area in San Francisco.

"What did you do Joyce?" Giles asked in a cold voice.

"I gave Buffy her birth certificate before throwing her to the curb." She answered with a sneer. "It's no wonder her parents didn't want her, she was raving about vampires and that she was 'the vampire slayer'!"

"Well if you don't believe in vampires maybe Spike can help you believe."

Walking over to the bleach blonde haired vampire he was quick to untie him and Joyce before heading out to his car to find Buffy.

*******BACK AT THE HALLIWELL MANOR**************

"Well, how do you feel Buffy?" Phoebe asked curiously.

"I feel like I am ready to take on a nest of vampires." Buffy grinned. "But first, can you guys show me your powers?"

"Of course we can!" Phoebe agreed with great enthusiasm giving Buffy a sidelong hug.

"Why don't I go first?" Prue asked with a smirk. Prue's head slowly dropped to her chest with her eyes closed. For a few seconds Buffy wondered what in the world was she doing, then all of the sudden Prue was behind her saying hi.

"What the hell?" Buffy asked, startled to see the real Prue still in front of her. And then it clicked and she busted out laughing. "Astral Projection, very impressive!" Buffy said with a grin. When the Astral Prue disappered she looked back at the real Prue still grinning. "So is that your main power Prue or do you have more hidden away?"

"Well my main power is to move objects with my mind."

"Ah, okay that would mean you are telekinetic." Buffy said with a nod of her head. "So what's your power Piper?"

"Well since we are playing show and tell," she said with a smirk, "Watch this." Throwing her now empty coffee cup into the air she then threw up her hands and the cup froze in mid air.

"Oh my god! Did you just freeze that cup in mid air?" Buffy asked shocked and Piper nodded. "Wicked," Buffy exclaimed with a grin.

"If you think that is cool, look around the room." Piper said with a smirk.

Buffy looked around to find a cat sitting on the couch but wasn't moving. She reached toward it to feel its fur only to find out that the cat was real, just frozen in time along with the guys that were in the room. Letting out a shocked giggle, Buffy looked back at Piper, moved her hands again and the cup that was frozen mid-air, blasted into a million pieces. Moving quickly out of the way of any debris that might hurt her, she noticed that the men were now unfrozenand talking to each other and the cat was breathing again looking at Buffy. "Wicked, how did you do that, and what kind of power is that?"

"To put it simple, instead of freezing the molecules, I basically sped up the molecules which caused the cup to explode. Its called molecular combustion." Piper stated with a shrug.

Buffy laughed, exclaiming that power must come in handy. At that Piper smirked and nodded, "It has saved our ass multiple times."

"Okay mine are pretty basic considering the ones that were just shown to you, I'll just tell you. I have the power of premonition which is my main power and I also have the power of levitation." Phoebe said sounding a little put out.

"Oh, come on Phebs, your power of premonition has had to have saved a lot of lives!" Buffy exclaimed.

"Yeah Phoebe, you know we wouldn't be able to do the good that we do without your power!" Prue chimed in.

"You're right, plus it has saved our lives a lot of times." Phoebe agreed.

The clock downstairs struck midnight as Buffy and her sisters with Leo and Andy behind them headed downstairs for a late dinner. After dinner the sisters decided it was safer for Buffy to stay at the manor instead of getting her own place. Once that was settled Phoebe decided that Buffy could bunk with her and everyone settled in for the night.


	9. Chapter 9: The Sisters Bond

Chapter 9: The Sisters Bond

A/N: I am so sorry that you guys had to wait this long. This chapter will be in third person POV.

The grandfather clock downstairs struck noon when Buffy finally woke up. She was disorientated for the first few seconds until it all floods back to her; her memories of her birth mother and her half-sisters, and of Joyce kicking her out. A lone tear slides down her face as the memory of Joyce and their time together comes to the forefront of her mind. Shaking her head and whipping the tear away, Buffy knows that everything happens for a reason. Wasn't that what Joyce and Giles had always said when things got rough? Deciding that now she had a chance to put her past behind her, or at least her past with her adoptive parents, Buffy got off the bed to get ready for whatever lay ahead.

Buffy dressed in a baby blue tank top, hip hugger blue jeans and tennis shoes. She put her hair into a high pony tail and put on a little make-up and then headed downstairs to see if anyone else was in the house. Once she was downstairs she could smell something really good being cooked in the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen she found her sisters, Leo; her brother-in-law, and Andy, who is Prue's lover. Apparently Phoebe loved to gossip, since they had stayed awake until five in the morning talking and getting to know one another.

"Good morning everyone! Piper, I didn't know you can cook." Buffy said as she walked the rest of the way into the kitchen, with a smile on her face.

"Apparently I forgot to mention that last night." Phoebe said looking a little sheepish.

"You didn't tell her about my wonderful cooking?" Piper asked rounding on Phoebe. Phoebe looked even more sheepish shaking her head.

Before Piper could say another word edgewise Buffy stepped in saying "Well we were kind of busy talking about everyone else's sex life." At the look on all of her sister's faces she busted out laughing, Piper and Prue slapped Phoebe upside the head while Phoebe ducked and glared at Buffy.

"Buffy!" Phoebe whined, "You weren't supposed to say anything!"

"Well considering that I just got kicked out of my mom's house for the consequences of lying to her all the time to the point that she'd rather believe that I am apart of some gang than a Vampire Slayer, I'd say that I have learned that honesty is the best policy."

"Well thank you Buffy for being honest." Prue said with a small smile.

"Wow, your adoptive mom really kicked you out because she thought you were in a gang?" Phoebe asked.

Buffy shook her head. "No, I don't think it was because of that. To be honest I think it's because she didn't want me anymore. Before we moved to Sunnydale, Joyce and Hank were always fighting and it ended with a bad divorce. I think what really ended their marriage was due to my burning down the school gym at Hemery." Buffy had tears in her eyes once more from the thought that Joyce didn't want her anymore.

"What on earth did she do to make you think that?" Prue asked. Inside she was fuming, her face turning red with anger for the woman that hurt her baby sister.

"I distinctly remember Joyce saying 'You are not my child and will never be my child,' right before she said she wanted me out of her house by dawn."

"Did you say anything to provoke her into saying that?" Prue asked. Prue couldn't believe that a woman would say that to their daughter, adopted or not, without something triggering it.

Piper and Phoebe gasped at Prue and glared at her knowing that it was hard for Buffy to lose someone like that and to talk about the situation so soon after just meeting each other.

Prue sighed and looked from Piper and Phoebe to Buffy again and tried to explain her reason for asking such a question. "I was only asking because there had to have been a trigger to make her say and do the things she did."

Buffy sighed and decided that she needed to sit down for this conversation. Leo and Andy had already gone to another room to talk, so Buffy took the seat that Leo had vacated, which was directly across from Prue with Piper and Phoebe at her sides. Once seated she began telling her story from the time that she got to Sunnydale to the time that she left yesterday to come to San Francisco. Buffy told them about how she met Angel, and how they fell deeply in love. The deaths at the school and Angel losing his soul, the lives he took and the families he destroyed, and yet how she still loved him. The fight with Joyce that night before the final battle, how she said '_if you walk out that door, don't even bother coming back_.'

"Then the final battle came time for Angel and me. We were neck and neck, either one of us could win. When I saw the Statue of Acathla opening up I knew I had to kill him or we would all be swallowed into a Hell Dimension. Once I had the upper hand and had Angel in front of Acathla, I made my move. But something happened that I didn't think could happen at this late in the fight."

"Angel got his soul back didn't he?" Piper asked.

Buffy nodded and then continued. "A bright light shone in his eyes and I knew that Willow had pulled through. But Acathla's mouth was getting wider and not knowing what else to do, I did the only thing I could think of; which was to tell Angel that I loved him, that it was all going to be okay, then quickly stabbed Angel and Acathla in the heart and sent Angel into the Hell Dimension, which closed the statue of Acathla." Buffy had tears in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Angel was gone and there was nothing she could do to bring him back. Her sisters grabbed her into a group hug and offered comforting words to Buffy, who was grateful that she had sisters that could understand what she was going through, or at least somewhat of it.

When Buffy pulled out of the group hug Prue asked, "So what happened when you got home?"

"At first I didn't remember that Joyce and I had had a fight." Buffy said, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose, then continued. "But when I dawned on me that the last thing that she said was to not come back, I quietly went upstairs and started to pack. I didn't even look up at her when she entered my room. '_Do you have anything to say to me Buffy or are you just going to leave' _she asked.'_What's there to say?_' I asked. _'How about you start off by telling me the truth Buffy? That would be a good place to start._' She said angrily. '_Do you not see what I am putting in my duffle bag?_ _Come on mom, I know we are both blonds but there is no need to act stupid…it doesn't suit you. Besides I told you before I left the house, I am a vampire slayer, mother. I mean honestly, when you were washing the blood, dust and grime off of my clothes, what did you think I was doing?"_ Tears started to stream down Buffy's face as she realized that she and Joyce were both in the wrong in this conversation, '_You honestly want my opinion? I thought you were in a gang again just like you were back in L.A. when you burned down your old high school gym.' _Joyce stated angrily. _'If you honestly cannot conceive the fact that your daughter is a vampire slayer instead of gang member, then honestly you are not the mother I grew up with._' I said coldly. '_Well since we are laying out all our cards here, I can tell you one thing is for sure Buffy, you are not my child and will never be my child._' She said while throwing my birth certificate at my duffle bag. Then she said '_I want you out of this house before dawn.' _So I packed my things and left without another word to her and never looked back. I know now that we were both in the wrong but I couldn't believe that Joyce refused to believe me. I was an emotional wreck, and everything seemed to be falling apart in front of me." Buff y was sobbing by the time she finished her story, and to her it felt like a big weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

Prue gathered Buffy into her arms, hugging her tightly and whispered comforting words to Buffy until there weren't any more tears to cry.


End file.
